{"id":253829,"date":"2026-07-28T16:14:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T16:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/253829\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T16:14:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T16:14:34","slug":"berks-county-man-sentenced-to-prison-in-stolen-human-remains-trafficking-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/253829\/","title":{"rendered":"Berks County man sentenced to prison in stolen human remains trafficking case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>WILLIAMSPORT, LYCOMING CO. (WOLF) \u2014 A Berks County man has been sentenced to federal prison for his role in a nationwide scheme involving the trafficking of stolen human remains, including body parts taken from cadavers donated to Harvard Medical School for medical research.<\/p>\n<p>Joshua Taylor, 49, of West Lawn, was sentenced Monday to 24 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann after pleading guilty to conspiracy and interstate transportation of stolen property.<\/p>\n<p>According to the U.S. Attorney&#8217;s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Taylor admitted he knowingly purchased stolen human remains from multiple people as part of a network that bought and sold body parts across state lines. The remains included those stolen from Harvard Medical School&#8217;s Anatomical Gifts Program.<\/p>\n<p>Federal prosecutors said the conspiracy operated between 2018 and 2022. During that time, Cedric Lodge, who managed the morgue for Harvard Medical School&#8217;s Anatomical Gifts Program, stole organs and other body parts from cadavers that had been donated for research and education before they were scheduled to be cremated. Investigators said Lodge and his wife, Denise, sold the stolen remains to Taylor and other buyers, sometimes allowing them into the Harvard morgue to examine cadavers. On other occasions, the remains were shipped to Pennsylvania and elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors said Taylor and co-defendant Katrina Maclean later resold the stolen remains for profit, including to Jeremy Pauley of Pennsylvania. Authorities also linked Pauley to Candace Chapman Scott, a former Arkansas mortuary employee who admitted stealing body parts and the remains of two stillborn infants that were supposed to be cremated and returned to their families.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Jeremy Pauley\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"365\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fcc11e0c-6124-487c-bd85-7287b4e12725-JeremyPauley.jpg\" width=\"648\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Several other defendants have already pleaded guilty in the case. According to prosecutors, Cedric Lodge was sentenced to 12 months in prison, Denise Lodge received 96 months, Andrew Ensanian was sentenced to six months, Matthew Lampi received 15 months, and Angelo Pereyra was sentenced to 18 months. Maclean is awaiting sentencing, while Scott was previously sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in Arkansas.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, East Pennsboro Township Police Department and the Cumberland County District Attorney&#8217;s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan V. Martin prosecuted the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WILLIAMSPORT, LYCOMING CO. (WOLF) \u2014 A Berks County man has been sentenced to federal prison for his role&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-253829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}